Engines, including compression-ignition engines, spark-ignition engines, gasoline engines, gaseous fuel-powered engines, and-other internal combustion engines, may operate more effectively with fuel from which contaminates have been removed prior to the fuel reaching a combustion chamber of the engine. In particular, fuel contaminates, if not removed, may lead to undesirable operation of the engine and/or may increase the wear rate of engine components, such as, for example, fuel system components.
Effective removal of contaminates from the fuel system of a compression-ignition engine may be particularly important. In some compression-ignition engines, air is compressed in a combustion chamber, thereby increasing the temperature and pressure of the air, such that when fuel is supplied to the combustion chamber, the fuel and air ignite. If water and/or other contaminates are not removed from the fuel, the contaminates may interfere with and/or damage, for example, fuel injectors, which may have orifices manufactured to exacting tolerances and shapes for improving the efficiency of combustion and/or reducing undesirable exhaust emissions. Moreover, the presence of water in the fuel system may cause considerable engine damage and/or corrosion in the injection system.
Fuel filtration systems serve to remove contaminates from the fuel. For example, some conventional fuel systems may include a primary fuel filter, which removes water and large particulate matter, and a secondary fuel filter, which removes a significant portion of remaining (e.g., smaller) contaminates, such as fine particulate matter. In particular, a typical secondary filter may include multiple filter elements attached to a shared housing. The housing directs fuel flow through the filter elements and out to the fuel system. Multiple filter elements may be attached to the housing, such that a given volume of fuel is filtered by only one of the multiple filter elements. Thus, in a system including a primary filter and a secondary filter, a given volume of fuel is filtered via filtration media twice—once in the primary filter, where water and relatively large particulate matter may be removed, and once in the secondary filter, where relatively small particulate matter may be removed. In some systems, attempts to improve the effectiveness of filtration systems have resulted in providing additional, separate fuel filters arranged with a modified housing to supplement the primary and secondary fuel filters. The complex modification of the housing, however, may be undesirable due, for example, to the increased number of components, requiring repair and regular maintenance, and introduction of potential additional leak points.
One attempt to modify the housing which receives a fuel filter is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,294,262 (“the '262 patent”) issued to Tadlock on Nov. 13, 2007. Specifically, the '262 patent discloses a modular fluid treatment assembly and method in which modules of the system each have a head that can be connected to one or more heads (of one or more modules) in different configurations. The modules may have a head with substantially concentric inlet and outlet ports in fluid communication with a cartridge coupled to the head. Although the modular filter assembly described in the '262 patent may benefit from its capacity to connect one or more heads in different configurations, the '262 patent presents a system that includes a large number of parts, therefore providing additional complexity and potential leak points for fuel.
The present disclosure may be directed to overcoming or mitigating one or more of the potential problems set forth above.